North Leigh’s hopes of reaching the Division 1 South & West play-offs suffered a blow as they went down to a 1-0 defeat to fellow promotion hopefuls Evesham United at Eynsham Park on Saturday.

The result saw Mark Gee’s men slip to eighth, nine points from fifth-placed Larkhall Athletic.

The Millers were looking to maintain their promotion push, but they failed to deliver, thanks to a combination of some poor finishing and stubborn Evesham defending.

After a bright start, North Leigh were pushed on to the back foot by a series of corners.

And it was from one such set-piece that Evesham scored what proved to be the winner on 16 minutes.

Millers’ keeper Matt Bulman could only punch away a corner to the edge of the area where a lurking Adam Mann fired home through a crowd of players into the far corner of the net.

The Millers responded well, with Callum McNish and Jamie Cook going close.

Just before the break, Andy Gunn hooked a shot over the Evesham bar from a corner.

North Leigh maintained their pressure into the second half, with McNish firing high and wide.

On 64 minutes, Cook combined with Hopkins, but his shot was deflected away for a corner.

Five minutes from time, Evesham almost got a second, but Marcus Jackson shot over from eight yards.

The Millers cranked up the pressure, but Evesham held on to put a further dent in North Leigh’s fading play-off hopes.

North Leigh: Bulman, Else, Hopkins (Caton 71), Turk (Linford-Pill 49), Gunn, Westlake, Hughes, Osborne-Ricketts, Cook, McNish (Saunders 90), Williams.

Referee: D Leach (Eynsham).

Attendance: 114.

Last Tuesday, Cook hammered a second-half hat-trick as North Leigh boosted their play-off hopes with a 3-2 victory against Yate Town at Lodge Road Stadium.

The former Oxford United forward levelled with a penalty ten minutes after half-time, before netting in the 68th and 81st minutes to secure a crucial win.

The victory takes the Millers into sixth place, leapfrogging last night’s opponents.

The hosts led at the break through Nuno Felix’s 16th-minute strike, but Cook levelled from the spot after a handball.

His second of the game made it 2-1, but Jordon Rogers equalised, only for Cook to complete his treble and snatch victory.

This weekend, the Millers entertain Bridgwater Town at Eynsham Park.